Catholic Commonweal Magazine Needs to Start Doing What It Preaches

For about two months the meeting between the Pope and the Obama was forecast to take place in this time period.

For the last few weeks there has been a tidal wave of people from the more progressive side of Catholicism (and often Obama voters) that have forecast that there shall be a gnashing of teeth among Conservatives if the Pope did not give a tongue lashing to Obama in PUBLIC on abortion etc etc. Now rarely could they cite Conservative sources on this. Also bare in mind these were the same sources that said the Pope of the Holy Roman Catholic Church would give a tongue lashing to Bush on the White House Lawn not one year ago because of Iraq. They were of course wrong so we wonder why we listen to their predictions and pontifications. However the secular media makes us as they quoted in various tiresome articles

Now we have been through this before. We know from prior reports the relationship between Bush and Pope Benedict was good because it was blunt. No doubt in private the Pope expressed frustration at Iraqi Christian deaths in Iraq and praised Bush on other numerous administrative polices. No doubt President Bush shout back when he thought he was in the right.

The Pope went out of his way to honor Bush before he left Office perhaps because he was in more agreement than disagreement . Maybe he did it because well they had a connection.

But yet voices in the more progressive left of the American Catholic demographic tried to make a war between Bush and the Vatican.

Now see these same voices have declared almost a Golden age of relations between the White House and the Vatican without reason. But there is a reason. Any Catholic argument against Obama policies is now deemed "un Catholic". What a change

It is often is often subtle and not so subtle. This piece by David Gibson of the Commonweal fits in the "subtle" department.

David Gibson a "journalist" for Commonweal in a pretty much straight forward segment on the Obama visit to the Pope had this line



Let the Conservative tsurris begin.

Now I am pretty educated guy. I went to Louisiana Tech and got a Law degree from LSU. But I have to admit I had no idea what in the hell " tsurris" means. I suspected from the prior articles of Mr Gibson it was a slam

For the record it means- Trouble; aggravation.

Now they just could have said aggravation, but I think most readers of Commonweal knew that any word linked directly with "Conservative: could not be good. That shows in itself the limited 'catholic" world view it has of course. I treats with contempt a good bit of the Catholic population in it's potential readership base.

Of course to most devout and Conservative American Catholics they were not shocked that the Pope did not give Obama Holy hell in front of the cameras. We are not idiots but I suppose they think much of their readership believes in cartoon of the other side. Perhaps they do. It become More troublesome when the secular press that has such a limited Rolodex quotes these buffoons

However Commonweal has been one of those voices yelling about PLEASE DON'T Divide Catholicism over disagreeing with Obama. Though we note over the last eight years they have not been not concerned over heated comments over Bush.

Maybe it is time to be consistent. Maybe it is time not to make straw men.

It seems a curse that for whatever reason "Catholic" magazines like America , that horrible Fluff piece called U.S. Catholic and Commonweal i have convinced libraries across this country for some reason they are the "Catholic magazine" they must have.I think the cause is they just do it because of history. Going to the public library in the USA is still like being stuck in some horrid 70's Catholic dissident show.

They love the Pope but only when he disagrees with Conservatives or the GOP aligned Catholics. Besides that he is a dangerous relic that impedes the Spirit of Vatican II or whatever balderdash.

It is really time for magazine like Commonweal if they wish to meet to there goal of a robust Catholicism start acting liking a robust Catholic magazine and have respectful debate .

If you want to be a serious magazine of Catholic though a good start would not to be looking like a Catholic version of the Daily Kos. By the way there is a upside to this. Treat others with respect and maybe people might get your magazine though the mail instead of relying it sitting on the top of Libray stacks that no one reads!!! WIN WIN

I hope one day we in the United States can have a Catholic magazine similar to the evangelical magazine Christianity Today. A magazine while Orthodox can be provocative. Sadly we American Catholics have to live in this Catholic literary purgatory.